About three weeks ago, from November 19th to 26th, I was lucky to have been a part of the G20 THINQ as an international participant.
The G20 THINQ is a global quiz competition for those aged between fourteen and eighteen, hosted by the Indian Navy. Although it was an annual regional competition of India, last year, they went national, in which 6,425 schools participated. This year, to commemorate India being the host country of G20, the quiz expanded worldwide, with a national round and an international round, for which they invited students from the G20 countries and the countries whom India has a close relationship with to take part in the quiz. Twenty-three countries in total, including India, decided to take part, and the two students, who made up one team, were mostly selected from their schools or countries. One mentor from each countries accompanied their team throughout the quiz week. The selected students, one team per country, were to come to Delhi and enter the international semifinals. 11,741 schools throughout India registered for the quiz, and the national finals to pick a team to compete with their global peers took place at Mumbai on the 18th. The finalists and the teams that made it to the national semifinals all came to Delhi, where they were joined by the international students, who arrived on either the 19th or early morning of the 20th.
The 23 countries taking part in the G20 THINQ were: Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, European Union (there were two teams representing the union), France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mauritius, Mexico, Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Republic of Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, United Kingdom, and the United States of America.
I, along with my teammate, had the honor of representing the Republic of Korea.
Day 1 (11/19/23):
The first day went by in a breeze. Because both my teammate and I were currently living in Delhi, it did not take us long to arrive at the hotel. Most of the other teams, however, were flying from their home countries, and arrived at a later time. When we reached the hotel, we had to give a short interview, where we talked about how we feel about being here, things we would like to say to the Indian Navy, and things you think of when you hear the word 'India.' I was not aware of having to do any interviews and was very anxious when I found out 5 minutes before the actual thing, especially when I went in the room to find several cameras staring at me. I did manage to relax to a certain degree and got to finish it in one shot. At the very least, the cameraman looked quite pleased with mine. I realized later that the interview was not used in any way- I'm still not sure why we did it, but looking back, it was an out of my comfort zone yet refreshing experience.
We spent the rest of the time in our hotel rooms, unpacking our bags and studying for the quiz. I have been preparing hard for the quiz, and when I first heard that I have been chosen as one of the two RoK delegates, I was ecstatic. The other student who was selected to take part with me was the youngest of all the participants, but we got along well from the start. Our strengths were in different topics and subjects, which made us a good team for the quiz. We met and practiced for the quiz every weekend for the past few months, and we learned something new every time. Even if what we studied did not come on the quiz, we would still have something to be taking home with! Now that I was actually at the hotel, readying to meet other teams and put what we studied so far to the test, I was starting to feel the excitement kicking in. This week was going to be an opportunity of a lifetime.
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